Monthly Financial Check Up: January 2012
This month I came in $1681.17 in the red. I was expecting to have a negative cash flow because of the job loss so that was something to keep in mind.
Areas where I remained under budget are:
-Shopping : I remained at $66.65 under my shopping budget. This budget includes household items, clothing and personal items.
- Home: As usual, I remained under my home budget for the month, based on the rent and water bills.
- Utilities: I stayed under my utilities budget to the tune of $42.26, even though the electric bill still needs to come down.
Started Working On My Taxes
Well I still do not have all of the documents I need to completely file my taxes. I started inputting what I have so I could see an estimate of the final picture. My tax situation is greatly different from previous years because I lost my job last year and still have not found suitable full time employment.
My W2 lists a really low figure compared to past months since I did not receive paychecks from September to December of last year. I ended up giving the same amount at church as I was giving before I lost my job but the tax software is saying I cannot claim it because I donated too much based on my income.
Tracking My Finances In 2012: January Week 3
I have decided to post my weekly spending for the previous week on Fridays so you know how my cash has been flowing for the week. Please note that I get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month.
This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less than the money going out because bills are due starting on the first but I don’t get paid until the last day.
Finally Made A Foray Into Redbox
I have been seeing people talking about Redbox for a long time but never paid much attention to it since I always got movies from a friend. I also used Netflix for a little while but did not really watch that many movies.
I got rid of my cable a long time ago and have just been using Hulu to watch shows or I would also get them from various sites. I decided that I really wanted to see a few movies over the weekend so I decided to try out Redbox since there was one in the store where I was doing my grocery shopping.
Lending Club Performance Update: December 2011
I cannot stop talking about how much I am loving Lending Club. I initially fell in love because it was the site that gave me the best loan when I needed to consolidate my credit cards so that I could get out of debt.
After paying off my debt I decided to invest in Lending Club and even though I have had a few poorly performing loans I do not regret anything about my decision.
Tracking My Finances In 2011: December Week 4
I have decided to post my weekly spending for the previous week on Fridays so you know how my cash has been flowing for the week. Please note that I get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month.
This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less than the money going out because bills are due starting on the first but I don’t get paid until the last day.
Christmas 2011 Gifts Are Done!!!
I only planned on giving certain gifts this year long before I lost my job. I just got the LAST Christmas gift taken care of so I am done with the shopping this year.
I did not give expensive gifts but I think the recipients will love what they got because my gifts are very personalized and are things that those people want.
The money for those gifts came out of the Splurge Fund in ING where I had been budgeting and saving money all year round in order to be ready for Christmas.
One Of My Resolutions For 2012: Girlified!!!!!!
The new year is right around the corner and people have started to think about the different resolutions they will make. You can think of your plans as resolutions or goals or motivational areas but whatever you call them, most of us have things we want to accomplish in the new year.
One of my goals is to become more “Girlified” because I am a bit of a tomboy. I do wear skirts and dresses when the occasion warrants, but I really do feel more comfortable just wearing pants.
